The Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Safety held the first two of four hearings on campus safety and violence prevention Monday, June 11 and Tuesday, June 12. Committee Chair Senator Larry Taylor of Friendswood, who represents the Santa Fe school district, said that improving school safety is a complex problem involving students, faculty and staff. “This is a multifaceted deal,” he said. “There is no one solution. A metal detector is not the end-all.”
On Monday, June 11 the hearing dealt with ways to increase school safety through campus design and safety measures, such as access control and security cameras. It was highlighted during testimony that limiting entrances and exits could raise logistical issues. Midway ISD School Resource Officer (SRO) Jeff Foley told the committee that reducing entranceways for schools with thousands of students could create a bottleneck as students and staff try to enter every morning. Foley did point to possibly focusing populations, such as staff and teachers, or students who are car riders or walkers, to certain entrances allowing for an SRO to have certain situational awareness. The caution was that security measures must be balanced, Foley stated, “While we need to do our best to keep these kids secure and keep them safe, we also don’t want them to feel like they’re in a prison.”
The committee also heard from architects who specialize in designing campus buildings. Christopher Huckabee, who chairs the Texas Society of Architects School Safety Workgroup, told members that school design is trending towards more compact structures, built up rather than out. He said means to lock down sections of a school to contain a shooter and video cameras are effective security measures.
On Tuesday, June 12 the committee heard testimony about two programs, the marshal program and the Guardianship program, which allow armed civilians on school campuses and the role of police officers at schools.
Texas has the largest on-campus police presence in the country, said Texas School Safety Center Director Kathy Martinez-Prather, with more than 240 districts forming their own police departments. Many more use school resource officers, who are local police assigned to the school.
The committee has two charges remaining on its interim agenda, relating to mental health services and the role of violent media and other cultural factors in the rise of active shooting events. Hearings on those charges will be held on July 18 and July 24.